The other morning I inadvertently stepped on the cat’s tail. As you might expect, she howled and ran off. I apologized, telling her that it was, after all, inadvertent; and that she should not be too angry with me. I went on to explain (yes, I spend a bit too much time alone with the cats) that if I was really trying to hurt her, I would have advertently stepped on her tail… And that’s when the first word tripped me up. It seems that you can do something inadvertently but it is impossible to also do something advertently. The word is in the dictionary, but it is used only by lawyers these days, making it a very litigious sounding word. Such is the English language and I find it much too negative.
This left me disgruntled. There should be more logic in language. Were I able to use the word advertent and actually have people understand what I was saying, I’d be quite gruntled… There, it just happened again. It’s not fair that I can be disgruntled but I’m not allowed to be gruntled. If someone asks me how my neighbors feel about the recent property tax changes that the state has put into place, I want to be able to say “They’re quite gruntled, actually”. It has a nice ring to it. You can almost hear them responding with a hearty New England “uunt” or “uhn”. It’s almost poetic. When they are disgruntled nothing comes out. That’s a shame.
I’m not going to get all worked up about this. It just has me a bit peeved. I’m not disposed to go on a campaign to change the English language - I’d just like a little more leeway in expressing myself.
By the way, if I’m not disposed, am I posed?
Nice! I often trip on these too. If I had found your entry "pressive" I wouldn't have commented (does that work...for impressive?). I love being a word geek!
Teddy Roosevelt would be proud!!!!!